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<h1>FRDL Overview</h1>

<b>F</b>light <b>R</b>ecorder <b>D</b>own<b>L</b>oader

<H2>FRDL is designed to be as idiot proof as possible....</H2>

FRDL is designed for Microlight and Paramotor competition organizers, 
and for team leaders or pilots to all quickly reliably and painlessly
extract track data relavent to competition tasks from a variety
of different GPS flight loggers, and then convert it into the FAI
CIMA specified format for detailed examination in a flight analysis program.
<p>
FRDL backs up all log files it finds on a logger and instantly displays
a simple outline and altitude profile of the track it has
written to the output .igc file.  This means the downloading can
be done the moment the pilot lands from a championship task, and in the
mutual knowledge of what has been saved, the logger can confidently be
immediately returned to the pilot.
<p>
FRDL maintains all the information it needs about the championship,
championship tasks, and the loggers in use in a <b>championship file</b>
(*.frdc).   Once a championship file is open, FRDL is ready for use.


<p>
FRDL operates in two different <b>modes</b>:
<ul>
    <li><b>Full mode</b> is for normal everyday use and for use by the
    championship organization.</li>
    <li><b>Download only mode</b> Designed for team leaders and pilots.  In
    this mode the settings (task windows, local time offset Etc.) are copied
    from the logger to their instance of FRDL so they can extract tracks from their
    loggers using the exact same settings as the organizer has used.  This
    means they will be able to do their own flight analysis on the same
    basis as the championship organization.
    </li>
</ul>
For further information, see the <b>Modes of operation</b> help item.


<h2>Basic sequence of events</h2>

FRDL keeps a <b>constant watch</b> on USB ports.  If a logger is
connected, then FRDL  attempts to identify it from a special file
on the logger (logger.frdl) which uniquely identifies it and which
was written to it the first time it was connected to FRDL.

<p>
Once a logger is identified, FRDL immediately <b>backs up</b> its
entire contents to the host computer.

<p>
FRDL then attempts to extract from this data all GPS fix information which
occurred within a pre-set <b>Task window</b>.

<p>
This is saved to a <b>CIMA specification .igc file</b> which
is used by other software (eg MicroFlap) to analyse the flight data.  This is
exactly the same data format as output by downloaders of other loggers such
as the MLR.

<p>
A <b>basic outline</b> of the track, its altitude profile and some statistics
are displayed on screen as a 'quick and dirty' indication of what has
been saved. It is NOT intended to constitute any kind of definitive flight
analysis which should be done in a dedicated flight analysis
program (eg MicroFlap), but it is probably good enough for both the
organizer and the pilot to clearly understand what was recorded by the logger so
it can be immediately returned to him.  It may also indicate poor reception which
can be improved by the pilot placing the logger in a better place in his aircraft
next time, and alert the organizer to important penalties such as outlandings which
merit further detailed investigation.

<p>

<table class="good">
<tr><td>
Assuming a <b>USB-2</b> connection, a <b>good quality USB cable</b> and the
data is being saved on the <b>local computer</b>, the whole process should
take no more than <b>a few seconds</b>.  If the data is being saved to a
network location then the limiting factor will be the speed of the network
rather than anything to do with FRDL.</td>
<td><img src="icon_good.png" width="100" height="100" alt="Good" valign="top"></td></tr>
</table>



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